Young Hearts Rewritten
by Strider K
Summary: Rewritten. Feeling hurt and lost after Craig's betrayal, Ashley meets and falls for the new student who carries a dark burden in his heart. It is only then will they learn that love and friendship can heal even the worst of wounds.
1. Default Chapter

A/N: This is a rewritten version of Young Hearts. This one will be better. Takes place after both Ashley and Manny learn Craig's been playing them, and Caitlin and Joey get back together.  
  
Young Hearts  
  
By Strider  
  
Chapter 1  
  
Ashley dreaded homeroom. She knew Craig would be there. And the last thing person she wanted to see was the one who ripped her heart out. "I love you," he had said after she gave him her grandfather's guitar for a Christmas present, which she took back in the end when learning of his affair with Manny. Correction, his DESTINY with Manny.   
  
A few people knew about it. Paige, Terri, Ellie, Marco, Emma, JT, Toby, Spinner, and even Jimmy who was very supportive and comforting. Everyone knew that he still loved Ashley. They dated for a whole year. Now that was a commitment! But they moved on. Him with Hazel and her with…well, now nobody.   
  
She found herself a few more class rooms from Mrs. Kwan's room. She felt her pace become slow, having to drag her feet along the hallway.  
  
She was coming up to the gym when she looked inside suddenly to find a young man, no more than 16 or so, sitting on the bleachers with a drawing pad in his lap. He was drawing away with serious focus in his blue eyes. His hair was dark and nicely cut, though long around the sides and back, the popular way how it was. He wore a white long-sleeve shirt underneath a black t-shirt, faded blue jeans, and black shoes. Anybody could tell thought that he had a body on him. Tight and ripped.  
  
This was the first time Ashley ever saw him at Degrassi. A new student perhaps. Whoever he was, she was having a hard time looking away from him. Then again, from such handsome looks, what girl could?  
  
Marco would even be having a fit if he saw him.  
  
"You know when the bell for homeroom rings?" he asked her, not taking his eyes off his drawing.  
  
Snapped out of her trance, Ashley replied, "Actually, it should be ringing anytime here." A brief pause as she slowly walked up towards him. "Are you new here?"  
  
"Yeah." The new student finally had finished his drawing and looked up to Ashley. "I'm Caleb. Caleb Ross." he held out his hand.  
  
"Ashley Kerwin." Ashley smiled and shook his hand, forgetting about Craig and Manny for a moment. "Is this your first day?"  
  
"Have you seen me around before?" he teasingly smiled. Ashley's cheeks turned red with embarrassment when realizing her mistake, but her smile remained on even though her eyes were down at her feet shyly.  
  
"Yeah, it is. My mom and I moved her before Christmas." Caleb replied as he placed his drawing pad and pencil back in his book bag and walked off the bleachers. "So, who you got homeroom for?"  
  
"Mrs. Kwan. She's right down the hall. You?"  
  
"Same." Caleb shrugged. "Guess that means I won't have the pleasure of asking you if I could walk you to class."  
  
Ashley laughed. "Well, you don't have to--I mean, you could if you…"  
  
"Then, I will. Miss Kerwin, may I have permission to escort you to our homeroom before we are considered late?" he asked with good politeness and descent manners like a gentleman.  
  
"You may." Ashley answered and walked with Caleb out of the gym to Mrs. Kwan's class.   
  
"So, tell me about yourself." Ashley insisted.  
  
"What do you wanna know?" he asked.  
  
"Well, where are you from originally is a good start." Caleb nodded his head. "Well, I was born and half raised in Dallas, Texas, then my mother moved in with my grandparents after a fallout with my dad, AND THEN we moved down here when she got a perfect job for her."   
  
Ashley looked concerned for a moment. "Fallout?"  
  
"My dad was a heavy drinker. They would always get in fights with how much he drinks. Soon, she just couldn't handle it and left." Caleb explained, and Ashley nodded her head in accepting the answer. Another brief silence had taken place as the two walked down the hall. 'God, I have to look like an idiot right now,' Caleb thought, thinking how stupid it looks to be walking next to a pretty girl and not talking at all. "What about you?" he asked her.  
  
"I was practically born and raised here. My parents are divorced as well. My mom's married again, and my dad….well, he's out of the closet."  
  
"Whoa." Caleb said surprised.  
  
"Yeah, but we've come to terms with it. I actually like his boyfriend. He's like a third dad to me as well." Ashley smiled. "Are you some sort of artist?"  
  
Caleb chuckled at that. "What?" Ashley asked, a bit defensively. "Nothing. Yes, I am an artist. But I love all kinds of different arts. Drawing and painting just happens to be my specialty. I like about anything in art from music to the Martial Arts."  
  
"Martial Arts?!" Ashley laughed. "Martial Arts aren't necessarily art."  
  
"Actually, they are. It's like, when you see one or two guys in a fighting position, you can see the discipline of both their bodies, their minds and their souls. It's like a breathtaking painting that can tell an entire story. When the fighter moves, it's like going into a next chapter of a book."  
  
Ashley looked stunned. Never had she heard anybody explain something so beautiful like Caleb had.  
  
"Okay, so maybe I learned that from Kung-Fu, so sue me." he grinned. She laughed at the joke as they both entered homeroom. Ashley suddenly came to a halt, her smile and happy expression faded when her eyes fell on the one sight she dreaded to see.  
  
Craig. He was sitting next to Jimmy and Spinner, looking rather depressed. Let him. For all that he put her through, let him.  
  
Still, she couldn't help but feel guilty for some reason. Maybe it was that she didn't pay enough attention to him? Maybe…it was…it was all her fault that Craig preferred Manny over him.  
  
Caleb seemed to notice her quick change of emotions the moment they came to homeroom. "You ok?" he asked concerned.  
  
Ashley said nothing, but took her seat, avoiding eye contact with Craig, while Caleb was left alone to think about what just happened.  
  
Caleb sighed and took a seat, though it was not next to Ashley. Mrs. Kwan walked back into the room just as the principle's morning announcement came to play. Caleb though hardly heard a word the principle was saying. He was too busy watching Ashley. The way how she seemed to be fighting off tears, how the corners of her beautiful mouth were downwards in a saddened frown.  
  
While the announcement went on, Caleb took out his notebook and quickly drew. As the morning announcements were concluded, Caleb had just finished his latest sketch. With Mrs. Kwan's back turned, Caleb whispered to Terri sitting next to Ashley and handed out the rolled up sketch. "Give this to Ash." Caleb said when Terri looked over at him. She nodded and took the sketch, then handed it to Ashley.  
  
Ashley looked puzzled at first, until she unraveled the sketch. The sketch was a drawing of her, just now. Sitting on her chair in Mrs. Kwan's class. Caleb didn't even miss one single detail of her clothes or the surroundings. It was nearly perfect!   
  
Only one thing though. She was smiling in the drawing. She didn't know why, until she saw the message on the bottom of the sketch.   
  
"You're even more beautiful when you smile." it said, with Caleb's initials at the bottom.  
  
Ashley smiled and looked over at Caleb. "Thank you." she mouthed. He returned her smile and nodded his head.  
  
So it looked like the new school day would turn out good after all. 


	2. 2

Chapter 2  
  
Spinner finished gobbling up his pizza in one huge bite. The sight made Paige turn away in disgust.   
  
The only one that wasn't watching the class pig was Craig whose eyes were glued on Ashley sitting with Ellie and Sean further away in the cafeteria.   
  
"You stare at her like she's gonna vanish into thin air." Spinner joked as he flushed the pizza down with some chocolate milk.  
  
Craig didn't even hear him.  
  
"Craig, honey, you really need to stop doing that. It's only going to make things worse." Paige spoke up next.  
  
"Nothing can get any worse than this." Craig sighed as he looked back down at his food.  
  
"And you have yourself to blame for this. I don't think it's wise for you to even still be drooling over her." Paige continued.  
  
"I'm not drooling!" Craig replied defensively.   
  
"Look, why don't you just stick with Manny Santos anyways? She's still wants you, doesn't she?" Paige nudged Spinner in the ribs, giving him a dirty look.   
  
Speaking of which, Craig saw Manny sit together with Toby and Emma. She was watching him though, longingly as usual. She had tried to call him a few times, but he never returned them.   
  
But when Manny realized he was gazing over at Ashley, she looked away from him hurt and tried to keep herself in conversation with her friends.  
  
Then, Craig noticed a tall, dark-haired boy grab his tray of food and walk passed Ashley's table. But not before giving her a warm smile and…was he checking her out?!  
  
"Who's that?" Craig asked.  
  
Spinner and Paige both turned to take a glimpse at the new student. "I think that's the new guy. Caleb, or something." Spinner replied.  
  
"Caleb Ross." Paige corrected him, checking out the newcomer of Degrassi as well. "Looks yummy enough to eat," she nodded her head in satisfaction. Spinner glared at her, and in return she gave her boyfriend a teasing smile and a kiss on the cheek.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ * ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ * ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
"So Marco won't be back with Paige's brother till tomorrow?" Ashley asked Ellie.  
  
"Yeah." the punk girl nodded. "He said they had a blast during their cruise that they totally forgot about time. Don't really wanna get into that good time part." Ellie grimaced.   
  
Sean tried to ignore the whole thing. He was friends with Marco and accepted that his friend was gay, but girl on girl action and boy on boy action were two different things. One was a pleasurable fantasy, and the other wasn't for him at least.  
  
From the corner of her eye, Ashley saw him walk by. Caleb gave her a warm smile and a nod. The smile was mirrored by Ashley, only to Caleb it looked way better on her.  
  
"Who's that?" Ellie asked, noticing the new boy Ashley was smiling at.  
  
"That's Caleb." Ashley replied. "He's new here in Degrassi."  
  
"Figured that since he was in our homeroom class." Ellie reminded Ashley with a smirk.  
  
Ashley barely heard her friend as her eyes were glued on to Caleb's figure walking outside to one of the nearby benches.  
  
"I'll be right back." Ashley excused herself from the table and grabbed her tray as she hurried outside. Ellie and Sean watched her go a bit oddly.  
  
"What's with her?" Sean asked.  
  
"I think Craig may be out of the picture. Permanently." Ellie answered, closing up to her boyfriend with his arm around her.  
  
"You sure?" Sean asked. "I mean, Her and Craig have only broken up for two weeks, and they were pretty tight. You think she's moved on already?"  
  
Ellie smiled teasingly at the rebel without a cause. "Heck, if I was her and had a guy cute as Caleb, I would be."  
  
Sean gave her a funny nod and kissed her cheek before resuming his meal.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ * ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ * ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
"Hi."  
  
Caleb looked up from his food and smiled at the person in front of him. Picking up his tray, he stood up from the bench.  
  
"Wait, you don't have to leave or anything." Ashley protested.  
  
"Actually, I wasn't going anywhere. Just showing polite manners in front of a pretty girl." Caleb smiled.  
  
Ashley smiled as she felt her cheeks color a bit red which quickly suppressed when she took a seat next to Caleb on the bench. "Why didn't you come over and join me and my friends?"  
  
"Didn't want to be a bother to ya." Caleb shrugged. "Besides, I'm not really use to hanging around in groups."  
  
"How come?" Ashley asked.  
  
"If I told you, you wouldn't believe me." Caleb winked and turned back to his food for only a short while.   
  
"Thank you for the drawing." Ashley spoke again. "It really made me feel better."  
  
"Well, that was the point." Caleb looked up at her. "I've only known you for a few hours, and already I can say that you have the prettiest smile I've ever seen."  
  
This time, Ashley couldn't hold but the redness of her cheeks as she smiled shyly. "Thank you."  
  
As Ashley looked up, her eyes were caught on someone or something as her smile faded into a frown. Caleb noticed when he looked back up at her and stared over at whoever it was that caught her attention.  
  
A boy with curly and bushy dark hair stood in front of a trash can with a blond haired boy, both staring over at her and Caleb.  
  
The dark haired boy had a pitiful look on his face like he had lost the keys to a kingdom. Perhaps he did when he cheated on his girlfriend with an innocent freshman turned J-Lo wannabe.   
  
"Friend of yours?" Caleb asked her.  
  
"Craig." Ashley scowled as she glared at her ex. "He's my ex-boyfriend."  
  
"That explains why he's giving me the death look." Caleb smirked and turned back to his tray. "Guess he's still not over you, eh?"  
  
"He cheated on me with a freshman. Actually, played both me and her. Thought he could balance himself with two girlfriends instead of one."  
  
'And it blew up in his face,' Caleb thought to himself as he looked back up at Craig who was retreating away with Spinner.  
  
"His loss." Caleb said.  
  
Ashley scoffed. "I'm not that great." Caleb looked over at her surprised to even hear that coming from such a girl. "Maybe….maybe it was my fault to begin with."  
  
"How was it your fault? The guy cheated on you with another girl? HE cheated on you, not you cheated on him."  
  
"Still though…" Ashley didn't know what to say next. Before she could think of anything, the bell signaling that lunch was over rang.  
  
"Well, another few hours education." Caleb said as he tossed his tray away. "I'll walk you to class if you want."  
  
Ashley smiled appreciatively. "Thanks, but I'll be fine. I gotta help set up for a pageant we're holding this Saturday."  
  
"A beauty pageant?" Caleb laughed. "You guys actually have beauty pageants here?!"  
  
Ashley stood up. "Yeah. So?"  
  
"Well, no contest then. You'd win in a second. "Caleb smiled.  
  
Ashley rolled her eyes. "Flattery, Mr. Ross, will only get you a few brownie points around here." she teased.  
  
"I'm being serious."   
  
"I'm not even going to be in the pageant. Those things are worthless. "  
  
Caleb shook his head. "Still though, you should. I mean, you would blow the competition away the moment you walked on stage."  
  
Ashley smiled warmly at Caleb. "I wonder how many other girls you've said that too."  
  
"Well, just for the record. You're the first." Caleb returned the smile then headed away for class. "Later."  
  
"Yeah." Ashley waved. "Later." she sighed, her smile never leaving her as she continued to watch Caleb leave. 


End file.
